Portable crane



C. F. GREEN.

PORTABLE CRANE. APPLICATION FILED APR.6, I92I.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

. g za INVENTOR A TTORNE YS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES'FREDERICK GREEN, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

roRTArLEoRANE.

' Y i Application filed April 6,

Toa'll "w from it'may concern Bait-known that I, CHARLES FREDERICKGREnN,a.-c1t1zen-of the United States, re-

' siding at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin'Portable Cranes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to portable cranes adapted" for lifting or loweringheavy objects.

The object of my invention is to provide a cranewhich may be mountedupona railway car or other similar vehicle for loading and unloading'material tooheavy to be lifted by hand, and'which may be moved abouteasily and quickly from place to place upon'such car or vehicle, orremoved entirely. therefrom. p

-My crane is particularly well adapted for use upon railway work orpick-up trains, for loading: and unloading such objects as rails, frogs,etc. along theright of way, or at any place where permanent cranes orother loadin}; means are not available. For such use I providethe cranewith a base adapted to fit within any oneof the usual stake-pocketssecured to the sides of railway fiat-cars, so that the crane issupported and firmly held in position by" the stake-pocket. It maybeplaced in any one of the several stake-pookets of the car, in ordertoreach objects on either side'of the car or at any point in the lengththereof, and may be easily and quickly moved from one stake-pocket toanother.

My crane will now be fully described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein v p Fig; 1 is a 'side elevation showing my cranemounted upon arailway flat-car.

Fig. a plan view'ofthe boom of my crane, enlarged, the cable beingomitted and the rear pulley guard shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section, enlarged, of a portion of the mast and thelower bearing.

Fig. 4 is aplan view, enlarged, of the motor support, taken in thedirection of the arrows on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, and referring particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, thereference numeral 1 designates the bed of a railway car, here shown as aflat-car, which has the usual stake pockets 2 attached to its sides. 3isv the mast of my portable crane, said mast being preferably formed ofa section of iron pipe, closed at its upper end by a cap 3, and

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922. 1921. Serial m5. 459;o5ez

whoseilower end is fitted to a squared base or: stake 4., preferablyformed of cast iron,

and, adapted to fit within any one of the stake pockets 2. Said stake 4is secured to.

the mast-3 by having its upper portion turned to fit Within said mast,as shown in Fig. 3, and is fastened thereto, preferably, bymeans of arivet 5' and an eye bolt 6. Said eye bolt is provided for convenienceinmoving the crane from one stake pocket to another, for'by means of abar, not shown, passed through the eye of said bolt, two men can easilylift and carry the crane, while its upper portion is steadied bya thirdman. A projecting h1g7, Fig. 1, formedupon the outer face of the stake4, seats upon the upper edge ofthe stake pocket 2.

The mast 3 is provided" with a fixed collar 8 positioned just abovethey-eye-bolt 6, and a 's'ec'ond fixed collar-8 near its upper end.

These collar s support the bearings for the boom. Both bearings aresimilar in construction, the lower?" one being shown in de-' tail in Fig3. Arotatablesleeve or box 9 is-inounted upon the mast 3- above thefixed collar 8, with a ball thrust bearing 10 inter posed therebetween.The rotatable sleeve 9 is flanged at its top'and' bottom, and a seriesof vertically disposed rollers 11 are in ter osed' between the mast 3and the inner surface of the sleeve 9,-form1ng an antl-friction radialbearing. SZLICFTOllQlS are retained in position between the flangesofsaid" clamped thereupon by said bolts. Near its forward end said boomis braced by a pair of spaced compression members 15, which, extenddownwardly and inwardly, and embrace the lower bearing sleeve 9, asshown in Figs. land 3. The rear end of the boom is braced by a pair oftension members 16, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, which extend downwardly andinwardly, and are bolted to the projecting rear ends of the compressionbrace members 15, as shown at 17. Said tension braces 16 ar preferablyformed of angle iron, as

shown. The boom 12,.with its braceslf) and 16, is thus rotatable aboutthe mast 3 upon the beariiigs described above.

The boom 12 carries pulleys 18 and '19. at its forward and rear endsrespectively, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. over which passes the cable 20,as shown in Fig. l. The forward pulley 18 is carried between two.

end of the boom 12 to permit the use of a.

tackle ifnecessary.

A hoisting engine or motor, indicated by dotted lines at 26 in Figs. 1and i, is removably secured tothe tension braces 16. This hoist, theconstruction of which forms no part of the present invention, may be ofany well known type, and may be operated by compressed air, steam,electricity, or any other convenient power. When the crane s used uponrallway work or p1ck-up trains,

it is convenient to use an air hoist, of any suitable form, the airbeing taken from, the train line in any well known manner, but thechoiceiof power for operating the hoist is optional with the user of thecrane, anc depends upon convenience.

The hoist 26 is permanently secured, in any desired manner, not shown inthe drawings, to a base plate 27 Figs. 1 and 4. This base plate has sideflanges 28, Fig, 4:, which overlie the brace members 16, and whlch areslotted at their lower ends to fitover plnsor V studs 29, Fig. 1,projecting from? thesides of said braces. The upper portion of the baseplate 27 is secured to said bracesby a removable bolt or pin 30, Fig. l,extending through both braces and the base plate flanges28, and held inplace by a split key 31. Thus by removing said pin 30, the base plate27, with the hoist 26 attached thereto,

and passing over said-pulleys.

may be lifted off the studs 29 and removed from the crane, therebymaking the crane itselflighter and easier to" move. It is understoodthat the hoist 26 is provided with a suitable drum upon which the cable20 is wound.

I claiin 1 r 1. A portable crane especially adapted for railway cars,comprising a roast with a base adapted to fitwithin a stake-pocket ofthe car; upper and lowerrotatable sleevessurrounding said mast; a boom.formed of. a pair of laterally spaced members partially embracing andsecured to the upper sleeve and extending in both directions therefrom;arcoinpression brace-formed of a pair of parallel members extendingbetweenthe: for

ward end portion of said boom and the lower sleeve, the lower endportions of the,

brace members being clamped about said lower sleeve and extendingrearwardly therefrom; a. pairof :laterally spaced ten sion brace membersextending between the projecting endsof said compression brace members;and hoisting tackle carriedby the boom and tension brace. I 1 1 g 2. Aportable crane comprising a mast;

rear end portion of the boom and the rear upperandlower rotatablesleeves surrounding said mastja boom formed "ofa pair of laterallyspaced members partially embrace ing and secured to the upper sleeve andex-, tending inboth directions therefrom; a pulleyanounted between saidboom nembers 5.;

near eachend thereof; a compression brace formed of a pair of parallelmembers egrending betweenthe forward end portion of said boom and thelower sleeve, the lower end portions of said brace members being 5;;clamped about saidlower sleeve and extending rearwardly therefrom; apair of late erally spaced tension brace members-extend infg betweentherear end portion of the boom and the rear projecting endsfiof saidcom pression'brace members; abracket adapted for the support'of ahoisting means, remove ably secured to said tension braces; and a cableassociated: with said hoisting means In testimony. whereof I have signedname tothis specification.

cnannns "FREDERICK GREEN. 1

